1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to data processing systems and, in particular, to a method, system, and computer program product for tracing a particular user or process in a data processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern computing technology has resulted in immensely complicated and ever-changing environments. One such environment is the Internet, which is also referred to as an “internetwork.” The Internet is a set of computer networks, possibly dissimilar, joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from a protocol of the sending network to a protocol used by the receiving network. When capitalized, the term “internet” refers to a collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols. Currently, the most commonly employed method of transferring data over the Internet is to employ the World Wide Web environment, also called the “Web”. Other internet resources exist for transferring information, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Gopher, but have not achieved the popularity of the Web. In the Web environment, servers and clients effect data transactions using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a known protocol for handling the transfer of various data files such as text, still graphic images, audio, motion video, etc. HTTP is made up of header information and content. HTTP allows for the creation of custom headers. The information in various data files is formatted for presentation to a user by a standard page description language, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). The Internet also is used widely to transfer applications to users using browsers. Often times, users may search for and obtain software packages through the Internet.
Other types of complex network data processing systems include those created for facilitating work in large corporations. In many cases, these networks may span across regions in various worldwide locations. These complex networks also may use the Internet as part of a virtual product network for conducting business. These networks are further complicated by the need to collect and analyze data concerning software application errors that occur within the network.
Often, software applications exhibit problems that only occur in a specific customer environment. This makes duplication of the problem in a controlled environment difficult if not impossible until the nature of the problem is determined. Unfortunately, the information necessary to isolate the exact nature of the problem can be difficult to obtain because enabling logging and/or trace information can significantly modify the runtime behavior of the system.
In this situation, the additional overhead and modified runtime execution path of the logging and trace infrastructure can prevent the problem from reoccurring, or cause additional problems to arise that are not relevant to resolving the outstanding problem. This makes it even more costly.